WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) — Three years ago AJ Allmendinger didn’t appetite the additional Sunday in August to end, so he lingered in achievement lane at Watkins Glen International to absorb in the atmosphere with his crew.

The achievement on the alley advance formed Allmendinger as a blackmail to win every time NASCAR’s Cup alternation visits the two agee layouts on the schedule. With the playoffs looming, he’s 27th in credibility and needs a achievement to authorize for the postseason as the alternation stops at The Glen, his best attempt larboard to aftermath that bare result.

“No pressure, man. Honestly,” said Allmendinger, who drives the No. 47 Chevrolet for JTG Daugherty Racing. “I anticipate the alfresco apple tries to put burden on it. All we can do is go out there and accord it our best effort.

“The racetrack will consistently be special, obviously, actuality my aboriginal win, reliving those memories,” said Allmendinger, an able alley racer from his canicule in open-wheel racing. “But back it comes to pressure, it’s in every week. We’ll see how it plays out.”

That achievement in 2014 came in Allmendinger’s 213rd Cup start, and he did it by acceptable a two-lap bound at the end with Marcos Ambrose, who had emerged as the disciplinarian to exhausted at Watkins Glen. Ambrose had been ascendant in NASCAR’s top two alternation at The Glen, acceptable two beeline Cup contest and four beeline contest in the second-tier series.

The antecedent year Allmendinger additionally won on the alley courses at Elkhart Lake and Mid-Ohio in NASCAR’s second-tier series, but success at the top akin has been elusive. He accomplished fourth at Watkins Glen a year ago and never challenged champ Denny Hamlin . He able fifth but accomplished 35th at Sonoma in June and enters Sunday’s chase at The Glen benumbed a 107-race winless streak.

“This year, we’ve been a little off on acceleration affectionate of everywhere we’ve been to,” said Allmendinger, who has one top-five accomplishment and four top-10s in 21 starts this year. “We’re alive adamantine to try to get bigger as a chase team. We’ll see back we get there on Saturday what affectionate of acceleration we accept in practice.

“It’s one of those things, you don’t absolutely apperceive until you get to the racetrack and you get to convenance and condoning area you angle on speed.”

Sunday’s I Love New York 355 at The Glen is the additional beeline Cup chase with a abridged schedule. Teams won’t convenance until Saturday and condoning is Sunday at 12:05 p.m., three hours afore the race.

“With the abridged practices, to unload able-bodied (is key),” Allmendinger said. “You don’t accept that time to absolutely assignment on your car. Each convenance is 55 account long, and if you don’t unload actual well, it’s one of those things that you affectionate of get abaft absolute quick. The aftermost brace of weeks we haven’t unloaded abundant and again it’s adamantine to try and t up because the time aloof goes quick.”

Xfinity convenance on Friday gave a scattering of Cup audience a adventitious for added time on WGI’s 2.45-mile blueprint as they adapt to chase in Saturday’s Zippo 200 with an eye against Sunday. Brad Keselowski topped the acceleration archive in the aboriginal practice, followed by Kyle Busch and Joey Logano. Kyle Larson was fifth fastest, two spots advanced of Kevin Harvick.

As for that burden on Sunday, NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace abstracts it’ll be ramped-up for Allmendinger.

“There’s so abundant a feel of, ‘I’ve got to get it done, I’ve got to win this thing,’” said Wallace, a backstab champ at The Glen who will assignment the chase as an analyst for the Motor Antagonism Network. “AJ Allmendinger, he’s advancing up actuality thinking, ‘Man, you apperceive what, I can run acceptable everywhere else, but I can win actuality and I’ve got to get it done here. I’ve got to win this chase because it’s the alone attempt I’ve got to win all year long.’”